What is the transmission control protocol (TCP)?

The transmission control protocol (TCP) is today’s most widely-used transport protocol. It adds three pieces of important functionality to the best-effort internet protocol (IP). First, TCP enables reliable delivery between two internet-connected computers. Second, TCP allows multiple clients and connections to share network resources with some degree of fairness. Third, TCP adds a layer of naming that separates multiple connections between the same computers into logical connections. The details of how TCP accomplishes these tasks are complex, but the design principles are fairly simple.

Credits: Talking: Geoffrey Challen (Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo). Producing: Greg Bunyea (Undergraduate, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo).

Part of the https://www.internet-class.org online internet course. A blue Systems Research Group (https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu) production.